Meet Lapiz and Maykol - two bright young men from Costa Rica. Their homes are made of corrugated tin metal and they are happy. They have limited possessions but a bond where you stick close together. They love La Carpio, despite the fact that most Ticos (true Costa Ricans) think La Carpio is one of the most dangerous parts of San Jose.
My spiritual life changed the fist time I saw these two boys in January of 2007. I met them along a dirt path in La Carpio as I walked with Steve Edwards, the missionary from Texas serving in La Carpio. Although I have seen poverty, I had no idea how meeting these two young boys would change my worldviews.
You see, the people and places we visit reveal more about our commitments and convictions than what we espouse with our lips. Our travel plans make a moral and spiritual statement; they reveal how we spend our most sacred gifts - time, energy, and resources. They also reveal an attitude of the heart.
The Jesus-following life is a life committed to entering the lives and stories of all kinds of people. Jesus was audacious enough to cross into "unsafe" territory and we should do the same. Maybe each of us should give up a family vacation in order to journey on a mission trip where we spend a week with others who are different than ourselves.
Prayer from the Presbyterian Prayer of Confession:
Loving God, we admit to attitudes that exclude rather than embrace. We prefer to associate with others who think and act as we do....Awaken us to the limits of our understanding and narrowness of our dealings.
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